Trim Label and Convert for Maestro Users
What is TLC:
TLC (Trim, Label, and Convert) is a CD track ripper and WAV/MP3 file converter used by both Computer Concepts Corporation and Scott Studios. This document covers operation with Computer Concepts Maes 313v2122d tro only. Maestro users can select and rip CD tracks or convert WAV and MP3 files to MPEG II, PCM or APT-x (optional) audio files with compatible 1.3 version DAF headers. You can set cart ownership and distribution within TLC and send the information to Maestro although the two programs do not interact with each other.
When you rip files, you can alter the pitch of the audio file and/or select several Normalize levels.
Installation:
TLC can be installed on almost any modern desktop PC or laptop in your station. You will need an audio card or sound card with speakers. Audio files are large so make sure you have enough hard drive space to store the files.
TLC runs at 100 percent CPU usage at times when it is ripping CD tracks. Do not use TLC on an ACP unit or any Maestro workstation that is in use to avoid performance degradation.
TLC uses a hardware dongle on the parallel port for software security. Wait until after the TLC software is installed before installing the dongle. Warning: when installing or removing the dongle, make sure the computer's power is off. If you do not have a dongle at the time of installation, TLC can be used for 10 days before reverting to LE mode. LE mode limits operation of TLC to playback only and is activated after 10 days if no dongle is present.
The latest version of TLC can be downloaded from the Scott Studios web site:
https://www.scottstudios.com/sw_tlc.html
When prompted by your browser to Save the file or open from its present location, select "Save". Save the file to a location on your hard disk, making note of where you saved it.
Once download is complete, run the TLC installation program. You can take the default paths for installation or specify a path of your choosing. If you are running TLC on a Windows NT4.0 Workstation, or Windows 98 computer, you should also make sure that you have Windows Media Player version 6.4 or later with all the available codecs installed. Note that 6.4 is the final version of Windows Media Player supported on NT 4.0 Workstation.
During the installation process, you will receive a warning message about running the Hardware Key Installation with new installs. Disregard this message for the time being.
Once the installation process is complete, shutdown the computer. With the power off, attach the hardware key to the parallel (printer) port of the computer and make sure the parallel port is enabled in the BIOS. Note that if you are using APTx, you will need a hardware key licensed for APTx. If the key is not clearly marked for use with APTx, contact Computer Concepts Customer Service or your sales representative for the proper key.
Now that the software has been installed, and the hardware key attached, start the computer. Click on Start/Programs/Scott Studios Corporation/Trim, Label & Convert/Initialize Hardware Key. Follow the prompts and if prompted to restart your computer when complete, do so, otherwise proceed to the next step.
During installation, a shortcut for TLC will be created on the desktop. The first time you launch TLC, you will get an error message that no catlist was found and one is created automatically. Acknowledge the warning and proceed.
Setup:
After the software is installed, step through the Tools -- Options dialogs and setup initial operating values. Among the items you'll want to set is Configure TLC for Computer Concepts - Maestro on the General dialog. The Saved File Extension should be set to "DAF" for Maestro systems. If you will be converting other audio files to DAF files, make sure the source file extension type is in the "Allowed File Extensions" list; if it is not, simply click in the box at the end of the list, add a comma, space and the new extension.
Select whether you want to use ID3 information when converting MP3's and whether you will be importing Sound Forge files into selected categories.
If you are using APTx compression, check the box to enable the APTx Engine, otherwise, leave unchecked.
If you wish to leave your original file in tact, you should not select "Enable Auto Format". Make sure that the format is set up however for Computer Concepts, and your compression type (MPEG II, APTx or uncompressed Linear PCM). If you wish to protect your configuration settings so they can't be modified by unauthorized persons, enter a password, otherwise leave blank.
TLC will operate with any sound card. Select the one you are using on the Recording and Playback screens.
Recording Tab:
You may wish to modify "Default EOM". EOM in TLC is the same as AUX mark in Maestro. The Default EOM setting places a Aux Mark by default at the prescribed time on ripped and converted audio. Some stations find it helpful to increase the Default EOM if they are primarily using TLC to rip music from CD.
Playback Tab:
You may consider adjustments to EOM Sample Preroll and EOM/QIN Adjustment amount. EOM sample preroll adjusts how much audio is played before the Aux Mark when you click on the EOM button in the TLC audio console, while EOM/QIN Adjustment sets the value the EOM or Cue In is adjusted with the + or - keys in the console.
Meters Tab:
No changes required.
CD Ripping Tab:
If
you have more than one CD ROM drive in the computer, you can select the default
drive to use. Drive Type should be set
to auto for most modern systems. As for
the Copy Mode, "
Now click on the "Advanced" button. Here (see below) you will leave the format set to PCM then set the attributes of the audio file to match your environment. 32K 16 Bit Stereo for APTx Sites, 44.1K 16 Bit Stereo for most MPEG II and Linear sites.
Next, you need to decide if you wish to use the CDDB (Internet CD Database) feature. If so, place a check mark in the box. This feature is useful if your TLC workstation is attached to the Internet and if the majority of CD's you will be ripping are commercially distributed. When checked, it will query an online database of CD titles for a matching CD. If found, it will automatically fill in the title, artist and length fields of the CD. If there is no entry for the CD in the CDDB, you will be prompted accordingly and need to fill in the information manually. You will need to specify an email address to use this feature. Note: a VALID email address is NOT necessary. only a properly FORMATTED email address, i.e. [email protected].
Troubleshooting note:
If you encounter an error message that says "TLC ERROR IN TRIGGER FOR CDCOPY:0" - it
could be that the CDROM drive is set to autostart CD's. Turn auto start off in Windows and the error should go away.
Updates Tab:
Nothing
to configure, but here you have the option to have TLC check for updates to the
software automatically every time the software is launched if the TLC
workstation is attached to the Internet.
Network Tab:
The Network dialog is very important. Set the communication method to Maestro regardless of your network configuration. Samplerate Protection should be set to "All". Path to server is required to upload audio from TLC to your Maestro enterprise (note that in peer to peer Maestro enterprises, this will be a path to the machine that will "OWN" the audio). It is preferred to utilize a UNC path to the server (\\servername\share), however if you have a persistent mapped drive to the upload path, you can use that as well. The Station ID establishes cart ownership within Maestro. The upload extension can be set to DFF or DAF. If you are sending a file to a Maestro surface to have it automatically identified and added to the cart inventory, use DFF. If you are uploading to an Imports folder on a Windows based ACP server, use DAF. Distribution sets the default distribution settings, which are placed in the DAF header of the uploaded files. Distribution is based on Station NODE as defined in your Maestro Configuration file.
The remaining options are set according to user preference. Auto upload determines when files are automatically uploaded to the server. If set to 0, auto upload is disabled. When set to 5, upload happens automatically when there is 5 files ready for upload in the upload queue.
Limit Transfer tells TLC how fast to transfer files to the server. In most instances "Wide" offers the fastest uploads and best performance, however environments with HEAVY network traffic may need to throttle the speed setting down to avoid overtaxing the CPU load utilization of the server. If you experience stuttering audio on the air while uploading, throttle the speed setting down to a speed that doesn't interfere with normal operation. Note that ripping audio DIRECTLY to a network path is NOT recommended.
Troubleshooting note: You will receive an error 75 when trying to upload to an ACP \audio folder as DAF and a DAF with that number already exists. Change the setup to export DFF and it works.
Categories:
You must define at least one Category to use TLC. These are locations where files are ripped from CD or where MP3 or WAV audio are stored when you use TLC. Computer Concepts recommends ripping and converting audio ONLY to a local hard drive surface. Create Categories under Tools -- Categories on the TLC menu bar. While not necessary for proper TLC operation, by defining individual categories for different types of audio, management of files is enhanced. For instance, you could place all your raw MP3 commercials in one category, ripped music from CD in another, long form programming in yet another and so on.
After opening Tools
-- Categories, select "New" and type a 3 letter
category code into the Category box (MUS for music, etc.). Fill in the Category description and the Path
(Drive and directory where audio is stored). With each category, leave the "Upload Priority" status as "
As previously stated, do NOT attempt to rip CD audio direct to a Maestro ACP server or other network drive.
Operation:
Using TLC is easy. You must first select a category from the left column on the screen. If any audio carts are present in the Category working path, they are displayed on the center of the screen. Double click a cart to load it into the recorder at the bottom center. You can Play the cart, set the begin and EOM (Aux mark) and set Distribution using the More button. The Title, Start and End date can also be edited. Click Save if you have made changes to store the new settings. If you selected "Always add to upload queue on saving", the file will now appear in the Upload window on the right side of the screen.
To rip a CD track, click the CD icon at the top of the screen. The first time you use the CD Ripper, you will need to specify that files should be saved in Computer Concepts format and if using compression, your specific compression scheme. The software will remember this setting the next time it is opened. If you have an Internet connection, an attempt is made to connect to the CDDB database and extract track title information. Commercial CD's will usually be found, but CD's specially produced for broadcast won't appear in these listings. That simply means you will have to enter the Track Title manually.
You can audition a track by selecting it and clicking Preview. The Pitch control can change the pitch of the audio. If you change the pitch, the track will be ripped with this setting. To rip one or more tracks, check the box on the left and enter the CutID (cart number), Title and Artist information.
You can select as many tracks as you want. The Start button begins ripping the tracks to the working directory of the currently selected Category. Note that space needed requirements are displayed at the bottom of the window and the space available on the destination surface is displayed at the bottom of the screen. The space requirement is an interim requirement and is typically much more space than the file will consume after it is ripped and converted.
The Normalize option lets you normalize the audio at three percentage levels or leave the box unchecked to rip without normalization. In brief, normalization examines the track and sets the loudest audio peaks to the proper peaking level of the VU meter. If overwrite existing files is checked, TLC won't ask you about overwriting a file. If it is not checked, TLC will ask if you want to overwrite an existing file.
You can auto assign cart numbers by checking the box and entering a starting cart number. As you check the tracks, TLC auto assigns a unique cart number to the track.
Clicking Close returns you to the Category cart file listing.
Using TLC to convert MP3 and WAV files to Maestro formatted audio works in much the same way as ripping from CD.
Begin by selecting the category where raw MP3 or WAV files are stored. Next select the file or files that you wish to convert and with the files highlighted click on the FORMAT icon on the TLC toolbar. The first time you use the file format converter, you will need to specify that files should be saved in Computer Concepts format and if using compression, your specific compression scheme. Click in the ID field area and assign a valid Maestro cart number for the audio. Click "Start" and the file (or files if multiple files are selected) will be converted.
If you can load an audio file into the recorder, play it back, and the Save button is active, you can convert the file to a Computer Concepts format and upload it to Maestro. This includes WAV files, many MP3 files, and DAF files from other Maestro systems. In addition, TLC understands Scott Studios format files and they can be converted to Maestro files as well. You can also convert CCC file types to Scott Studio formats. Finally, you can create new files and record them in TLC.
Audio File Adjustments:
You now see all of your ripped tracks in the Category working directory. The default start date will be the current date and the end date is TFN or 12/31/2037. You can change these dates now as well as the Title, Begin mark and EOM or Aux mark. Use the Play button to check your trim settings. Once the cart begins playing you can drag the playback bar to any location and release it to hear the track at that point.
Use the "More" button to set Maestro cart distribution. The default settings on the Network dialog are used if you do not make changes. You can set Analog and Digital playback gain settings within TLC, which are stored in the DAF header.
Press the EOM button to play the last portion of the cart. It will begin playing prior to the Aux Mark and the button will light when the Aux Mark point is reached. You can press the Space bar to reset the Aux Mark as the cart plays. Check the setting by pressing the EOM button again.
When all changes have been made, click Save to store the new settings.
Limitations:
TLC knows nothing about the presence of Maestro and conversely, Maestro knows nothing about TLC. TLC can produce Maestro compatible carts and can even access and modify carts in available Maestro cart inventories. There are some types of carts that TLC can't handle. APT-x carts can't be produced or modified unless you purchase the optional APT-x dll for use with TLC. Any carts that show 'DCS_ BAD' in the Type column cannot be accessed. Finally, TLC cannot playback, modify, or create Maestro multi-cut carts. You can only work with single cut carts.
Uploading files to a network path:
If "Add to upload queue on save" is enabled, files will automatically be added upload upon saving, otherwise, to copy a file from a Category working directory to the specified network path, Select the track and then the Add button located on the upper right of the screen. You can continue to add tracks for uploading. Click Send to begin copying the files to the specified server path at the transfer rate set in the Tools -- Network dialog. If you must use a slow rate to avoid overloading an ACP server, this process can take some time but fortunately does not require you to be present.
Miscellaneous Information:
Clicking the "Net" button at the top of the screen will cause TLC to display the files on the defined server path. Note: This can take some time if you have many carts and it is the first time you are loading the path. This process is like loading the Maestro Inventory server except that it takes longer. It depends on the speed of your machine but if you have thousands of carts on the server, it will take several minutes before TLC is. The good news is that TLC creates a cache file for the server path directory and for all Category paths. After the initial cache file is created, TLC compares the directory with the cache entries and updates the cache as necessary. This process does not take nearly as long.
If you double click a cart from the server, it will be downloaded to the current Category working path. This will occur even if you only want to playback the cart. You can then make modifications and even convert the cart and save it to the local Category directory. The cart can then be uploaded to the server like any other cart.
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